SILENT MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION WITH POSTERIOR INFERIOR PSEUDOANEURYSM OF THE LEFT VENTRICLE PRESENTING AS A POSTERIOR LUNG MASS.

An asymptomatic 62-year-old man developed a density in his left lower hemithorax in the retrocardiac position on chest roentgenogram, which was discovered during a routine evaluation. This was diagnosed in another hospital as a lung tumor, for which he underwent an exploratory left thoracotomy. This case points out the difficulty in the diagnosis of retrocardiac masses and suggests that echocardiography and cardiac angiography should be accomplished before attempting needle aspiration or an open lung biopsy. The absence of a history of myocardial infarction and classical clinical indications of ventricular aneurysms such as electrocardiographic changes, arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure does not exclude a true aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle.